The final leg of what has been an unforgettable year.. We began with a train ride to the airport which we managed without any problems - we're experts at this travelling thing after a year away! After a final fried breakfast, we reluctantly headed for our penultimate flight, from Beijing to Heathrow (I was wearing my 'I Climbed the Great Wall' tshirt that we bought the other day!). The flight went smoothly and we had plenty of room with empty seats either side ...

We woke up today, not quite believing this is our very last full day of travelling! We spent a bit of time sorting out our stuff and throwing away lots of clothes, ready to pack our bags for the very last time later today! We planned to visit the summer palace today, which covers an expanse of 2.9 sq KM, three quarters of which is water. We'd read about a boat that travels along the canals and into the palace, so decided to head to the zoo which is where the b...

A memorable day today, beginning with a very early start at 5:45am - haven't seen that time for a while! We caught the subway to Dongzhimen station and headed outside to try and find the public bus that would take us to the Great Wall. We followed directions that we'd found online around the back of the bus station to a smaller depot where our bus was waiting for us - a lot cheaper than going on an organised tour through the hostel. The ride out to the section of...

This morning we decided to give the buffet breakfast at the hostel a miss and instead went to the McDonald's round the corner (there are actually 4 McDonald's within a few minutes walk from the hostel - maybe even more!). The English menu card we were shown didn't have any breakfast items on so I just had a cofee, while Dave had a full meal with chips - it was a bit early for me to eat all that! We then took the subway to Tianamen Square and walked through to the...

This morning we got up in time to try the buffet breakfast at our hostel...and we ended up wishing that we hadn't! It consisted of stale coffee, squashed stale bread, boiled eggs and cake - not the best; plus the fact that there was no-one else there was a telling sign! After our bread and cake, we headed back towards Tianamen Square for our first stop of the day - the Chairman Mao Mausoleum, where Mao's body has been preserved since his death in 1976. The secu...